16
Oct

The serpentine dance is described in Marketa Uhlirova’s new book, Birds of Paradise: Costume as a Cinematic Spectacle. Led by a rich catalogue of images, it studies the mystery and simple magic of the early dance and its consequential effect on fashion. Alongside Loïe Fuller, American dancer Estrella Sylvia is credited with popularising the dance genre in London with her enchanting acrobatic movements and wafting fabric.

The serpentine dance emerged during the late nineteenth century. It evolved from the skirt dance, a form of early burlesque in which moving figures were swathed in light fabric and optical shadows to create a fluid sequence of shapes. Pioneered by Loïe Fuller, it was created in reaction to the popular can-can dances of the time. By the turn of the century, it had become a globally famous spectacle, which saw dancers perform in cages with lions, on stilts or on horseback. They became celebrities and in turn fashion icons, known for their billowing yards of silk and voluminous costumes.

07
Oct

When in London, go and see the BFI’s “A Century of Chinese Cinema”, a celebration of China’s rich film tradition, featuring Ruan Lingyu’s devastating performance in the newly restored, silent drama The Goddess.

As the classic film The Goddess is remastered for the BFI London Film Festival, we pay hommage to its star, Ruan Lingyu, one of China’s most extraordinary and beloved film stars.

During the 1930s a new group of Chinese directors dared to make films about real, troubled lives. One of the reigning queens of this golden age of Chinese cinema was Ruan Lingyu. Her chameleon ability to step into myriad roles – prostitutes, workers, teachers and mothers – held a mirror up to the struggles of her country’s people. It was ground breaking, and it changed Asian cinema.

In the 1932’s The Goddess, newly restored by the BFI, it is still electrifying to see Ruan Lingyu – the easy slump of her walk, her nonchalant drag on a cigarette. 1935’s New Women, foreshadows the actress’s own fate. Lingyu plays Wei Ming, a famous author who commits suicide after being hounded by the press about her private life. In reality the pressures on Ruan were becoming unbearable. When the news of her death broke, a grief-stricken city stood still: a crowd of 300,000 silently lined the roads to watch her funeral procession pass by. Ruan was just 24 years old, but already a screen legend with 29 films to her name.

Today, Ruan Lingyu is virtually forgotten in the west. Many of her films are also tragically lost – critic Jonathan Rosenbaum describes Chinese film history as “written in quicksand”. Her death in 1935 seemed to mark the end of an era. Decadent, bohemian Old Shanghai was also on the brink of a turbulent decade; three years later it was invaded by Japan and emerged a shattered city after the second world war, when the People’s Liberation Army took hold. If Ruan is now forgotten, her tradition remains alive in those great actresses – from Julianne Moore to Gong Li – who excel at loneliness, who don’t seek to ingratiate, who vibrate with an inner world.

The Goddess shows on October 14 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, as part of the BFI London Film Festival.

07
Oct

Otherworldly. As a testimony to the rich cinematic culture of South India, German photographers Sabine Haubitz + Stefanie Zoche documented the vibrantly-colored façades and abstract architectural facets of movie theaters.

They state: “We are particularly interested in the culturally influenced reinterpretation of modern building style apparent in the architectural style which displays an unusual mixture of modernism, local architectural elements, a strong use of colour and, in the case of some older cinema halls, of art deco.”

04
Sep

The mysterious and experimental black and white photography of 83-year-old photographer Fan Ho gives us a unique chance to see the long-lost cityscapes of Hong Kong in the 1950s, putting its vast cultural, social and economic changes into perspective.

Fan Ho took up photography in the 1950s. He arrived in Hong Kong from Shanghai in 1949 and was fascinated by his new home city, with its shabby houses and dark dirty alleys. In the 1950s, Ho was just a teenager, and photographing strangers in the streets was more challenging than it might be today – many superstitious people believed that Ho’s Rolleiflex camera would take their spirits away. “With a knife in his hand, a pig butcher said he would chop me. He wanted his spirit back,” Ho recounted to South China Morning Post.

07
Aug

French photographer Thomas Rousset and graphic designer Raphaël Verona took a trip to Bolivia to encounter a magical world of doctors, spiritual healers and medicine men. They got to know strange rites and rituals, facing some some ancient mythologies.

Rousset and Verona created a book out of the material they’ve collected, emphasizing the tension between old and new, good and evil, spiritual and physical that appears very fascinating. The book ‘Waska Tatay’ is available now from IDPURE.

22
Jul

Our friend Jonathan Gration (PhD candidate within the Digital Building Heritage group at De Montfort University in Leicester) writes about his projects and inspirations. This time: Calke Abbey!

Jonathan Gration: “With the large portfolio of properties they manage the National Trust has decided to experiment with wandering off their own beaten track. Calke Abbey is the happy result of such an experiment. {…} The motto here has been ‘repair don’t restore’, and it really works. This is one of the very few places where one can experience a grand house at that pivotal point when the family moves out and it is entrusted to a heritage organisation. {…} Very little seems to have ever been sold, and the house is full of various collections. The Harpur-Crewe family obviously had a penchant for collecting stuffed birds and animals, as they are present in nearly every room in huge quantities. {…} The domestic quarters, cellars, tunnels (yes tunnels!) and gardens are splendid in their state of decay, and form a very evocative tableaux. {…} This is definitely not a house that will appeal to everyone, some might think it depressing or ghostly. {…} But if you get what the national Trust tried to do here, and can see why its so important why that story is told, then Calke offers an almost magical experience.”

08
Jul

A new atelier decorated in the brand’s signature interiors mix of extravagance and modernity has been added to Dolce & Gabanna’s heritage location.

The launch of Dolce & Gabbana’s first atelier for bespoke menswear marks the completion of the Italian luxury fashion house’s meticulous restoration of its famous men’s store on the corner of Corso Venezia and Via della Spiga in Milan’s Quadrilatero d’Oro (GoldenQuadrilateral) shopping precinct.

Housed in the 16th-century palazzo that has been home to the men’s collections for years, the new Dolce & Gabbana Sartoria shares the site with a Dolce & Gabbana men’s shoe boutique, women’s accessories boutique and the company’s multi-brand Spiga 2 store — plus its Barbiere barbershop, Beauty Farm spa, and Martini Bar and Bistrot. It opens onto a courtyard garden of citrus trees, palms, prickly pears and other species common to Sicily, the birthplace of Domenico Dolce and where he and Stefano Gabbana still have houses.

Inside, like the neighbouring accessories boutique and the brand’s men’s flagship store in London, the decor is a mix of neoclassical opulence and sleek mid-century modern design: angular wooden tables and shelving, velvet ottomans, oversized mirrors with gilded rococo frames, damask wall panels, enormous Venetian glass chandeliers, and marble and parquet flooring as far as the eye can see.

03
Jul

The Antiques Garage has been a favourite hunting ground for vintage shoppers and dealers alike. Its humble digs houses over 100 fine antique dealers hoarding treasures collected around the world. Sadly, this true find of a place closed at the end of June to make way for a hotel. A big blow for all of us who love antique shopping in NYC, a place embracing and strange, original and wild?

The Antiques Garage was an indoor expansion of the original “Chelsea fleas” that started in 1976 on an empty corner lot with 11 vendors. These markets have been vital to the cultural fabric of New York City, world-renowned and loved by locals and tourists alike. A bastion of inspiration for the fashion coterie as well as artists, actors, designers, The Antiques Garage was a window into an era gone by, a fond trip down memory lane, and a wonderful treasure trove of discovery.

For now the Antique Garage vendors will move to the West 25th Street Market, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway and Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market. Adieu Antique Garage! We will hold your memory!

27
Jun

Divine-looking blue walls…This is what the old town sector (or medina) in Chefchaouen, Morocco, has looked like for quite a few decades. The vivid blue paint covers most of the medina’s walls.

Situated in the Rif mountains, the city of Chefchaouen was found in 1471 and served as a Moorish fortress for exiles from Spain. It is thought that the suggestion to cover most of its walls in blue tekhelel (an ancient natural dye) was introduced by Jewish refugees in 1930, to symbolize the sky and heaven and to be reminded of the power of God.